Nov. 2, 2013

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Two Putnam County residents have been infected with the tick-borne and potentially fatal Powassan virus.

The county’s Department of Health said the two people, who were not identified, were infected in July and are recovering at home. The department said state health officials confirmed the infections last week.

Rachel Gressel, who oversees the county’s communicable diseases department, said the victims’ cases were unrelated.

“We assume they were walking, hiking around wooded areas” when they were bitten, she said.

The two cases are the fourth and fifth confirmed cases ever in Putnam County. The first was in 2007. That person died within weeks of being admitted to an area hospital, Gressel said. There have been 16 confirmed cases of Powassan virus in New York state since 2001.

“We are ground zero for Powassan, it seems, although it’s all over the Hudson Valley, I believe,” Gressel said.

According to the Health Department, symptoms of the virus include fever, headache, vomiting, weakness, confusion, seizures and memory loss. Long-term neurological disorders are possible. The Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies in Millbrook cites a fatality rate of 10 to 15 percent.

Unlike Lyme disease, a more prevalent virus transmitted by deer ticks, a Powassan infection can occur within 15 minutes of a bite.

Gressel said preventing tick bites, therefore, is paramount. People who spend time outdoors should tuck their pants into their socks, she said and consider using insect repellent with DEET.

Deer ticks, also known as black-legged ticks, are tiny — about the size of a poppy seed — and easy to miss.

“If you’re careful and you tick-check and use protective measures, you’re going to be OK,” she said. “You just need to be vigilant.”

A recent study of seven Hudson Valley counties by the state Health Department and the Cary Institute found Putnam to have the highest rate of Powassan infection. The study estimates 3.8 percent of Putnam’s deer ticks carry the virus.

The sudden death in August of 17-year-old Joseph Elone of Poughkeepsie was initially blamed on Powassan. Authorities later determined he had Lyme disease; the exact cause of his death is still pending.